Nellie"s Needles

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

CBF Workshop Piece

While the curved piece that I created in Caryl Bryer Fallert's workshop was hanging on my design wall I cut tulips and pinned borders to it.
Then I layered a piece of Press'n Seal over it and drew a quilting pattern with a permanent Sharpie fine point pen.
I then stuck the traced piece of Press'n Seal on a card board. I propped it up near my sewing machine so I could have a visual reference for free-form quilting.
Don't know why, but I ran into all kinds of complications with the quilting ... thread breaking, tension problems, and just generally feeling clumsy about the whole process. While I was ripping out stitches I got to reconsidering the quilting pattern AND the whole project. If I made a wall hanging there is no place to hang it. I would most likely donate it to my guild to raise money or gift it to a friend. I really like this piece ... and I desperately need a tea cozy.
I have four wonderful tea pots and they get wrapped with a towel while my tea is steeping and to keep it hot.
So.....I did a minimum of machine quilting after much fiddling with the tensions and drafted a pattern that would fit over my largest pot.
Another factor that led me in this direction is that the "tulip" leaves are "growing" from top and bottom of this piece. That bothered me when I was thinking of it as a wall hanging. It works perfectly in this format.
I finished constructing it twenty minutes before a friend came to have tea this afternoon. I'm delighted with my decision.

15 comments:

Joyce said...

What an inspired use for a wall hanging that you aren't quite happy with. It makes a wonderful tea cosy.

Anonymous said...

Oh! It's beautiful... as a wallhanging AND as a tea cozy! :o)

Helen said...

Oh, oh, oh, you brave person!!

Anonymous said...

What a perfect use for your piece. Like you, I need to be able to use the things that I make and you can have only so many wall hangings. This will be fun to use with your daily tea.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nellie,
Thanks so much for the link to your blog. I loved watching your composition
come together in the workshop. Who would have imagined that it would end up
as a designer tea cozy. I love it.
Happy quilting,
Caryl

Teodo said...

The time waiting to see your work has been rewarded by itself because it is " BELLISSIMO"... for colours, for your imagination and ideas. ciao ciao

Beverly said...

I love it! What a bright, cheery way to keep the tea hot!

Anne Heidi said...

Oh that turned out really pretty! I'm sure the tea even tastes better now with such a pretty tea warmer!

Kay said...

How funny! This is true improvisation. I loved it as a wall hanging though, and didn't notice the upside down leaves until you mentioned them. I think what I liked most was that you took something that looked like Carol BF and made it you. By turning it into a tea cozy, you carried that to a even higher level. Brava!

Shelina said...

That is such a pretty piece, and I love the use of the Press n seal. I always thought you could keep it on while you quilted, then pull if off. The tea cozy is pretty. I don't think I would be able to change my plan so drastically.

Nellie's Needles said...

Shelina,
I don't like the hassle of getting the press'n seal off after stitching. Although since I had posted about using it in an earlier post, it's been said that heating it up makes it come away from the stitching more easily. I would imagine that parchment paper would be used to protect the iron. I haven't tried to do that yet. This pattern was simple enough to easily repeat it just wth a visual reference.

McIrish Annie said...

I think using the press and seal to trace your quilting design is totally inspired!!

I think your piece is gorgeous and any teapot in town would be proud to wear it.

Deb Hardman said...

I LOVE it! I love Caryl's methods. I took a workshop from her in 1997. It changed my life! It's because of her methods that I made a quilt that took me to Barcelona ,Spain!

You did Great!

Jan's Art and Musings said...

Beautiful and clever!

Finn said...

Hi Nellie, I'm absolutely delighted that you went ahead and turned the piece into a tea cozy that you will enjoy with every use!
As I've ssid before, the heart wants what the heart wants...explainations have nothing to do with it..*VBS*
It's delightful to watch your progress and you both encourage and inspire me..*S* Keep up the great work. Hugs, Finn
P.S. Thanks for sharing the smile..*VBS*